Poisoned
by kensi54382
Summary: Linda and Duke discover something dangerous that makes one of them sick.
1. Chapter 1

Linda walked into the station, bright and ready to start work. She loved her job, even if it sometimes came with harsh consequences. She had lovely friends there, her soon to be brother in law worked with her, and she was partnered with her boss. How much better could it get? Sure, sometimes, it got hard. Like when she got shot her first week on the job. But she knew that it could happen, and accepted the danger anyway.

"I know you just arrived Linda, but we have a call out. Everyone else is either busy or not in yet," called Duke from his office.

Linda smiled and nodded. "Okay, I'm ready."

She waited for her boss to come out of his office and walk with her.

* * *

Duke saw Linda come in and felt bad having to drag her out into the cold weather again. But he needed a partner, and she was his after all. Besides, nobody else was available yet anyway. Linda was a great cop in his opinion, but she was still young and had a lot to learn. He had intentionally partnered her with himself to teach her and help her out. She was the only female in the Chester's Mill PD at the moment, and the guys loved to use that as material to tease her. And while it was all in good spirits, sometimes they took it too far and he had to put a stop to it before they could hurt her. She was like a daughter to him, and he had promised himself he would protect her and keep her safe as much as he possibly could.

"I know you just arrived Linda, but we have a call out..." he said from behind his desk in his office.

"Okay, I'm ready." She put her bag under her desk, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be there when they got back.

Duke stepped out from his office and walked up to where she was waiting for him in the corridor of the town hall.

* * *

They arrived at the edge of town pretty quickly. Duke loved to go fast sometimes, even though Linda had practically begged him to slow down several times, usually in the wet weather when they were on the verge of spinning out. Getting out of the car, Linda took the few minutes of silence to tease her boss.

"Thank god! Flat, firm ground! Yes! I feel so much safer out here," she giggled.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks Linda," Duke said sarcastically. He knew she was just playing around.

"So what exactly was the call out about?" she asked, looking around for anything different.

"Not sure. It was from Sam, so it wasn't exactly specific."

"What are we doing then?"

"I suppose we should just look around...I have something I want to talk to you about too."

"Sure, what's up?"

"Is something going on that I need to know about?"

"You lost me Duke."

"The last few days, you've been different. Not yourself. Is some thing wrong?"

"No...I guess I haven't really been feeling well lately, ever since we checked out that shipping container, but Rusty said I'm fine."

"I know he's a doctor, but maybe you should go to someone that isn't exactly involved with you."

"Rusty is a very good, independent doctor. I'll take his word any day."

"I know. I didn't think you would agree," Duke said with a smile to show that he was just looking out for her.

"Thank you." Linda went quiet for a moment. "Duke, there is something else...What the hell is that?"

Duke followed Linda to a box on the ground. "Don't touch it. We'll get Westlake's Bomb Squad out here."

Linda bent down to look at the box and started to feel dizzy. As she dropped to the ground, she felt Duke's hands pulling her away from the box. She allowed him to lay her on the soft grass for a moment while the dizziness passed, and then sat up slowly, confused.

"You okay?" Duke asked her gently as he pulled a bottle of water from the backpack he was carrying.

After a sip of water, Linda nodded. "I'm okay. That was weird."

"You had the same reaction to that shipping container last week. Maybe they both have the same thing in them."

"Maybe. Did we ever find out what was in the container?"

"No. I'm still waiting for an EPA report to come in. I'll send a sample of this box too."

* * *

"We should go get you checked out, just in case," said Duke as the two officers were driving back to the town hall. "Are you sure you feel alright?"

"I'm okay. A bit confused about it, but okay. Besides, I'm sure Rusty will check me tonight anyway." Linda smiled a little at her joke.

"I don't need to know what the two of you lovebirds do with your free time."

"Yeah you do. That's why you listen to me," she said cheekily.

Duke chuckled as they pulled into a parking spot and got out of the car. Heading inside, they bumped into Big Jim, and he turned angry eyes on them. Both Linda and Duke took a step back, all traces of their good mood gone. Big Jim looked at a Duke and saw nothing but defiance, and decided to leave him alone. He didn't want a fight with someone that wasn't afraid of him. When he turned to face Linda however, he grinned at the sight of fear in her eyes.

"Why did you walk into me? What's your problem!?" he yelled at the young woman.

Linda didn't even try to answer. She just stood there, trembling, until she felt a strong arm around her shoulders, and heard her boss whisper into her ear.

"Leave her alone Jim. She didn't do it on purpose, and you know that. Apologise." Duke frowned and glared at him.

"No. Get out of my sight, both of you."

Linda almost ran to her desk after that, feeling like she was about to cry. Then she noticed that her bag was missing, and she couldn't stop the tears that came.

"Linda? What happened?"

Looking up, Linda saw Freddy. She didn't answer him, afraid she would make the crying worse.

"Let me guess, Big Jim is still out there?"

Linda nodded.

"Don't worry about him. He's a jerk to everyone. He knows he'll get a reaction and uses it to his advantage. Let's go get some air and calm down." Freddy took her hand and led her to the door on the opposite side of the carpark so they wouldn't see Big Jim again.

"Thanks Freddy," said Linda once she had calmed down again.


	2. Chapter 2

When Linda got home from work that night, she knew something was wrong. She was feeling sick again. She was glad to see Rusty's car in their driveway, and even happier when she found him watching TV.

"Rusty, can you do me a favour?" she asked.

"Of course sweetheart. What do you need?" replied Rusty, turning off the TV.

"I'm not feeling well again. Something's wrong, I know it is. Can you please just check for me?"

"Yes. Come sit down." Rusty stood to grab his bag from the hallway and then returned to the couch. "Same symptoms?"

Linda nodded. "It's weird. Remember when I came home that night and told you about that container Duke and I found?"

"Yeah, you said you felt sick then too."

"Today we found a box. Duke said I had the same reaction as I did to that container."

"What was in the container?"

"No idea. Duke is still waiting on a report to come through."

"Maybe we should go to a doctor, get a blood test done?"

"No. You do it. I trust you."

"I know you do. Okay, I'll check you, but we are going to a doctor if you don't get better in the next couple of days."

"Okay."

Rusty pulled out a few of his medical tools and did a quick check of his wife's health. He was dismayed to hear that her breathing was laboured and her heart was beating too fast. He didn't want to scare her, but he also wanted her to be safe.

"Linda, I think we need a hospital. I don't know what the problem is, but it's not good."

"I don't want..." said Linda, passing out on the couch before she could even finish her sentence.

"Linda? Linda! Answer me!" It was no use. Rusty picked her up and ran to his car.

* * *

Duke packed up his belongings and headed to Big Jim's office. He wanted to yell at him for the way he had treated Linda earlier that day.

"Sheriff Perkins, what can I do for you tonight?" asked Big Jim sarcastically. It was no secret he didn't like Duke.

"You were very rude to Deputy Esquivel today. That was not nice. She didn't do anything wrong. You had no right to yell at her for no reason."

"Get lost."

"Tomorrow, you will apologise, or I will arrest you for abuse. Understood?"

"Whatever." Big Jim walked away.

Shaking his head, Duke walked out of the town hall building and to his car. He found Freddy standing there, looking worried and afraid.

"Freddy? What happened?"

* * *

Freddy picked up his phone when he heard it ringing, confused as to who was calling him so late.

"Hello?" he asked without checking the caller ID.

"Freddy, it's me," said Rusty hurriedly.

"What happened Rusty? You never call this late."

"Linda...she...not well..."

"Rusty, you're not making sense. What about Linda?"

"She's sick, and I'm taking her to the hospital."

"Do you want me to meet you there?"

"Yes...no...I don't know. Can you tell Duke?"

"Of course, I'll meet you soon."

"Thank you."

Freddy hung up and grabbed his car keys. He ran out of his house as fast as he could And drove off to the police station.

* * *

"Freddy, what happened?"

"Linda's in the hospital. Rusty called, said she's sick but he doesn't know what happened."

"Okay, let's go. Are we meeting up with him?"

"At the hospital, yeah."

Duke unlocked his car and followed Freddy to the town's hospital. He had a feeling that it had something to do with the box and the container the two of them had investigated, and hoped that he was wrong.

* * *

Once they reached the hospital, Rusty carried his wife into the emergency room quickly. His boss was just leaving a patient's room.

"Steve! Help, please," said Rusty anxiously.

"What happened?" asked Steve after helping Rusty put Linda onto a bed. He pulled his stethoscope off and checked Linda, then turned to Rusty. "She's got a fast heart rate."

"She's sick, I know she is. I don't know how."

"I might." Duke stepped into the room. "She wasn't well this morning. We found a box and she collapsed. It was exactly like a similat situation last week."

"What's in the box?" Steve questioned.

"No idea. I haven't got a report yet."

"Alright. Rusty, I need your permission to test her."

"Do anything you need to, but I'm not leaving her side."

"Okay, I can work with that."

Rusty stood next to the bed, holding Linda's hand for the next twenty minutes while Steve worked. When Steve was finished, he left the room quietly.

"Come on Linda, wake up honey," whispered Rusty sadly.


End file.
